Almost a century ago, a dark and skinny girl of illegitimate birth dreamed about becoming an actress in her country's capital, Buenos Aires. Her name was María Eva Duarte (later "Eva Perón"). Not only did Eva Perón realize this childhood dream by achieving nationwide fame as a successful actress in her early youth, she also dramatically turned into a major player on the world's stage as the First Lady of Argentina.

Women usually take burlesque classes for one of three reasons: they want to feel cheeky and have fun, they want to improve their body confidence and how they feel about themselves, or they want to become a professional burlesque performer. When asked about their experience of learning and performing burlesque the majority of our students will use the word 'empowering' in their answer.

We know that we women have a tendency to take on a little too much and Christmas often throws another dozen balls into our over-capacity juggling act! So the question is, how do we not just survive the Christmas season...but actually ensure that we ENJOY it?

We all know that drag is most commonly associated with describing a man in women's clothing (before I get corrected here, yes I know that it is used the other way around too), but the real drag is a woman who is feminine on the inside and yet putting on a masculine mask.

As important as our heels and handbags are (I worship at the altars of Blahnik and Choo whenever I can)...our obsession with gaining 'equality' with the boys is costing us...and while we might be aware of the symptoms...we're oblivious to the cause.

Perhaps a deeper issue is that of the female tendency towards insecurity and a sense of embarrassment about taking time to tend to personal appearances. When otherwise confident women get paid a compliment they often send it right back, rejected. "

Like many women, my attitude to my weight and body shape is fairly complicated. There are many factors influencing it - health, feminism, the desire to be attractive, the desire to eat cake, whether or not I'm about to meet up with someone I haven't seen for a few years - but really it comes down to a constant tension between two polar opposite ethoses.

Let's talk about lads. Specifically, lad culture. Call it what you like, dismiss it as a joke, but it doesn't hide the fact that it's just plain misogyny and sexism, with stereotypical, age-old notions of masculinity at the core.

Being objectified is not a compliment. No one ever changed the world because they learned to walk in heels that require a pilot's licence. Jumping up and down to participate in your own objectivation is generally not a good look.

I am now one of many women who have their own business, can vote and freely express an opinion. Historically there was a lot to fight for, by why now in 2012 do women in the West still feel the need to fight for the things we want?

Clearly, biologically women's bodies have an obvious function: baby-making. Throughout history this baby-making facility of the female anatomy has become entwined with the nurturing of the whole family, and feminists (men and women) fought for a woman's right to have a career, if they so chose to have one.

Recently I was lucky enough to talk to Lee Epting, Content Services Director at Vodafone. But how has she felt working as a woman in a man's world? Does she feel - like many women I've spoken to - that she has to sacrifice femininity in order to achieve strength in the workplace? At the end of the day, does Lee have to put on a 'man suit' and play by men's rules?

Within British culture, being designated 'the missus' carries significantly less glamorous and dignified connotations than 'Madame'. The anodyne and slightly self-conscious 'Ms' is hardly more appealing, although it does at least attempt to define women independent of their marital status.

It was a scene the teenage me would have had in a nightmare; my boyfriend sprawled out on the sofa watching football, me frantically juggling crushing garlic in the kitchen behind him simultaneously timing a roasting butternut squash and cleaning tomato juice off the printed recipe page.